Upholstery padding material



May 23, 1939. J. A. HOWARD UPHOLSTERY PADDING MATERIAL Filed Jan. 30,1937 765mm Hmmm Ho'wFaRD ev: [6' OWZLW f. @u

H T-roRNEY Patented May 23, 1939 PATENT GFFICE UPHOLSTERY PADDINGMATERIAL Joseph Arthur Howard, London, England, assignor of one-third toThe Moulded Hair Company Limited, London, England,

Bedford, England 1937, Serial No. 123,232 February 10, 1936 Josef AntonTalalay,

Application January 30,

In Great Britain and one-third to 4 Claims. (Ul. 18-53) This inventionrelates to upholstery padding material which consists of looselyassociated upholstery iibres, such as curled horsehair, individuallysheathed and preferably held together by an adhesive,lfor instancerubber deposited thereon from an aqueous dispersion.

The object of the invention is to improve the resiliency of anupholstery padding material of the above kind.

It has already been proposed to incorporate fibrous material in cellularrubber produced directly from an aqueous dispersion of rubber, eithercellular rubber with unbroken cells or rubber with broken cells, namelysponge rubber, including rubber of a stereoreticulated structure.

Now if the libres are incorporated in the latex mix for producing thecellular rubber prior to the formation of the cells in the mix, or ifthe latex mix is allowed to rise over the iibres, the distribution ofthe bres throughout the final cellular product will be indeterminate.

More particularly the object of the invention is to enable a looseassociation of the fibres of a mass of iibres, to be retained in acellular rubber structure, formed directly from an aqueous dispersion ofrubber and embedding such mass of fibres.

For the above purpose, according to the invention, in the production ofa cellular rubber structure directly from an aqueous dispersion ofrubber and embedding a mass of bres, the bres are individually sheathedwith a stiffening coating and arranged in an open loosely associatedcondition, and subsequently an aqueous dispersion of rubber isintroduced into the interstices between the fibres and a cellular rubberstructure is formed Within the interstices directly from the aqueousdispersion.

Preferably for the effective retention of the open condition of the massof fibres, the individual fibres, in addition to being individuallysheathed, are also held together by the coating.

Conveniently, the fibres in the open loosely associated condition areindividually sheathed and held together by plain rubber deposited fromlatex.

'I'he initial coating of the libres need not be flexible, for even ifthe fibres are initially sheathed or sheathed and held together by abrittle coating, such as a coating of shellac or brittle glue, suchcoating will not restrict the exibility of the nal cellular rubberstructure, for the brittle coating will become broken into fragments oneventual distortion of the iinal mass.

A cellular rubber latex mix is introduced into the interstices of anopen mass of the sheathed or sheathed and interconnected fibres so thaton frothing a cellular structure is formed spreading through theinterstices of the open mass of fibres.

'I'he cellular rubber latex mix before or after frothing thereof may bespread over one or more surfaces of the mass of rubberised fibres andintroduced into the interstices thereof, or may be poured into the mass.

The cellular rubber with the embedded mass of open loosely associatedsheathed or sheathed and interconnected bres may be shaped, by mouldingby hand or by confinement in a mould or otherwise, to the shape of thedesired-upholstery body or pad. Alternatively, the mass of open looselyassociated sheathed or sheathed and interconnected fibres may be in theform of a continuous web, in the interstices of which the cellularrubber structure is formedfrom the cellular rubber latex mix. The web ofcellular rubber with embedded loosely associated bres is out to shapewhen the cellular rubber has set or after it has been vulcanised.

Even when the final cellular rubber structure is moulded to a deniteshape, the initial mass of sheathed and interconnected fibres need notbe initially moulded to that shape, but can be composed of a number ofdisconnected pieces which eventually become interconnected by thecellular rubber.

Ihe mass of fibres sheathed with rubber may be Vulcanised prior to theapplication thereto of the cellular rubber latex mix, or vulcanisationcan be deferred until after the nal cellular rubber structure has beenformed, whereby the whole is submitted to conjoint vulcanisation.

The interstices between the fibres become more or less occupied by thecellular rubber.

Any available method of causing latex to froth and produce and set as acellular rubber structure, by reason of its constituents or by reason ofthe temperature to which it is exposed, and any method of introducingsame into the fibrous mass, can be employed to produce the cellularrubber structure embedding the bres.

The invention is illustrated, somewhat diagrammatically, on theaccompanying drawing, in which:-

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a mould with one side removed, occupiedby an open mass of rubberised upholstery fibres.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the interstices of the massoccupied by cellular rubber.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section on an exaggerinterconnected by plainated scale showing the nal constitution of the upholstery material.

a is a mould which is initially filled with an open mass b of upholsterybres c, Fig. 3, such as curled horsehair, individually sheathed andinterconnected at their crossing points by plain rubber d, Fig. 3,deposited from latein The mass b of rubberised iibres is for examplealready shaped, by a previous moulding operation, to the shape of themould a.

A latex mix adapted to froth and produce a cellular rubber structure isintroduced into the interstices of the mass b of rubberised libres, andafter formation of the cellular rubber structure. forms a cellularrubber mass e, Fig. 2embedding the rubberised bres.

The structure of the cellular rubber mass e embedding fibres cindividually sheathed and rubber d, is diagrammatically shown on anenlarged scale in Fig. 3.

'I'he expression rubber is intended to include analogous hydrocarbons,whether natural or artiiicial, capable of being employed in an'aqueousdispersion or as a solution.

v I claim: v1. A method of producing a cellular rubber structure from anaqueous dispersion of rubber and embedding a mass of libres. consistingin individually sheathing with a stiilening coating and embedding aimaisarranging fibres in an open loosely associated condition, andsubsequently introducing into the interstices between said ilbres anaqueous dispersion oi rubber and forming directly from said aqueousdispersion a cellular rubber structure within said interstices.

2. A method of producing a cellular rubber 4 v structure from an aqueousdispersion of rubber and embedding a mass oi ilbres, consistinginindividually sheathing and interconnecting by plain rubber depositedfrom an aqueous dispersion and arranging libres in an vopen looselyassociated condition, and subsequently introducing into the intersticesbetween said nbres an aqueous dispersion of rubber and forming directlyfrom said aqueous dispersion a cellular rubber structure within saidinterstices.

3. An upholstery body consisting of a mass of loosely associatedupholstery iibres individually sheathed with a coating other than ocellular rubber, and a mass of cellular rubber embedding said sheathedfibres individually.

4. An upholstery body consisting of a mass of loosely associatedupholstery bres individually sheathed with and interconnected by alcoating of plain rubber, and a mass of cellular rubber said sheathedfibres individually.

JOSEPH ARTHUR HOWARD.

